Watch: Young, Single & Dreading the New Year
This year, Valentine's Day coincides with the Spring Festival holiday that takes place across Asia.
Spring Festival is traditionally a time of reunion. But for unmarried people in China, there's also the tradition of getting asked a lot of invasive personal questions — particularly that one, burning question of, "Why aren’t you in a relationship?"
When we spoke to some of China’s single young people, many said they do, in fact, want to find their other half — but they care more about love than anything else. “If I get married just for the sake of marriage, I think I won’t be able to face myself,” says 28-year-old Maggie Li, who lives in Shanghai.
But love is proving harder for them to find. Hectic working schedules — sometimes as much as 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, six days a week — a smaller friend circle, sorely-needed personal space, and a growing sense of independence are all factors that they feel stop them from rushing into commitments.
In this Year of the Ox exclusive, we look at how young people view love and relationships, as well as navigate some of the season's trickiest questions: